02:57Black Hawk on Red Planet: NASA to Deploy Helicopter on Mars

12/05/2018

What started as a technology development project at NASA'sJet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in August 2013, has become The Mars Helicopter, a small, autonomous rotorcraft which will travel with the agency's Mars 2020rover mission, now scheduled to launch in July 2020 and be the first heavier-than-air craft on another world.

The primary goal of the Mars 2020 rover is to investigate a to-be-determined ancient environment on Mars that could have hosted past or present-day bacterial life.

Mars' atmosphere is 100 times thinner than the Earth's atmosphere, which could make flying a helicopter very hard. Once there, it will use solar cells to charge its batteries and operate a built-in heater to combat frigid nighttime temperatures.

It isn't even certain that vehicles can levitate on Mars, but the NASA helicopter seeks to "demonstrate the viability and potential of heavier-than-air vehicles on the Red Planet", according to a Friday statement. It has twin rotors that will spin at about 3,000 rotations per minute, which is 10 times faster than Earth helicopters.

That extra boost is necessary, because most Earth helicopters would be completely unable to travel in Mars' thin atmosphere. "We have an autonomous capability that will be able to receive and interpret commands from the ground, and then fly the mission on its own", Aung said.

Once the rover is on the planet's surface, a suitable location will be found to deploy the helicopter down from the vehicle and place it onto the ground.

Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, said the demonstration could blaze a trail for future robotic scouts on Mars.

On May 11, NASA announced that a small autonomous rotorcraft will be added to the Mars 2020 mission.

NASA's Mars 2020 will launch from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida in July 2020 and is expected to reach the Red Planet by February 2021. Such views are provided now by orbiting spacecraft. "We are working very hard for efficiencies and spending 30 days working on a technology demonstration that does not further those goals directly, from the science point of view, is a tradeoff that has to be made".

Related News:

A handful of photos and videos posted on social media show just how insane the whole incident looked to visitors in the kingdom. An employee is stationed inside the unit, sitting near the base of the neck.

The site states that one source believes Flair will undergo the surgery following the WWE European tour that kicks off this week. Things were delayed again when WWE wanted Flair to be available for her Backlash match with Carmella .

New Orleans loves utilizing their running backs in the passing game, and pass-catching is Kamara's best trait. He didn't fit well in Sean Payton's offense and it didn't take long for the two parties to move on.

Claiming that the PM was protecting the involved individuals, including former Karnataka Chief Minister Yeddyurappa, BJP leader B. The BJP would win at least 130 seats in the 224-member assembly and there was no need to take any party's support, he claimed.

His Nobel prize and the citation were stolen from Visva Bharati University's museum from Shantiniketan in Birbhum in 2004. However, his wrong statement before the school students triggered reaction across the society.

This is the shocking moment a screaming 65-year-old woman was dragged out of her auto by a police officer during a traffic stop. He ordered an internal affairs investigation on the incident and assured the community there would be a "decisive" response.

As a warm front lifts across the region this afternoon there will be a chance of scattered or isolated showers and thunderstorms. The chance of precipitation is 50 percent with new rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible.

Since then SIRIN LABS has gone on to disclose the specs of a blockchain smartphone which will be released late in the year. This is the first time a large phone manufacturer will be offering a Bitcoin wallet by default on all of their devices.

Most liked

83 awesome photos of royal weddings from down the years
Amateur baker Lara Mason, from Brownhills, has made a cake looking like Prince Harry and Meghan Markle to celebrate the big day. Thomas wrote: "Meg I know that I'm not ideal , nor is anyone else in our family, as I'm sure you have read by now".

Ex-NY Assembly Speaker Convicted After 2nd Graft Trial
In return, the government alleged that Silver supported real estate legislation that benefited the developers. He directed Glenwood Management, a major real-estate firm and campaign donor, to the real estate law firm.

John Kelly: Trump is "Super Smart"
They're not MS13", Kelly said, referring to the criminal gang. Kelly said he thinks Trump is 'a super smart guy'. I always give my opinion on everything.

IPL 2018: Ishan Kishan stars as Mumbai Indians overpower KKR
In response, KKR never got going and started losing wickets from the first over itself, when Sunil Narine departed for 4. He bowled a crucial couple of overs on the powerplay, conceding just nine runs and then two wickets of the tail-enders.